Chapter Text
When Ryan opened his eyes, and it was pitch black, and the stench of smoke filled the air.
He was laying on his side, aching from being thrown to the ground. He gave his limbs a tentative wriggle. Nothing serious, maybe a few bruises. One moment, they'd been in the TARDIS, on their way back to Sheffield. The next, the TARDIS was being whipped around so quickly he'd been thrown off the stairs. He lost track of everything he'd crashed into after the lights went out. He might have lost consciousness for a moment; he wasn't sure. All he knew now was he was aching and sore, and he didn't know what happened.
A loud bell sounded from somewhere overhead, with slow, regular gongs. His stomach tightened as he realized he had no idea where he was. He grasped around but caught nothing but empty air.
"Fam? Is everyone all right?" The Doctor's voice, somewhere in the dark, shouting over the bell. He relaxed, but only a smidge. At least if the Doctor was around, he wasn't alone.
He heard a groan coming from nearby. "Yaz, you okay?" he asked.
"I'm all right," she sounded weary. "Where are we? Did we get thrown off the TARDIS?"
"No, still aboard, but she's sustained major damage." The Doctor's voice was high pitched and tight like she was trying to keep from panicking. "The power's gone out."
"Yeah, I can see that, Doc. Or rather, I can't." Graham, from across the room. "Haven't had a ride like that since the roller coasters at Adventure Island. What happened?"
"I don't know."
"Where are we?"
"Haven't the foggiest."
To Ryan, that they were still aboard the TARDIS was something of a relief. But he'd never seen the lights completely out in the console room, or for that matter, anywhere else. And the hum, the ever-present hum that he could feel through the soles of his shoes, was gone. He reached down to touch the grating, and it was still. Between that and the smoke, he had a feeling the situation was much more serious than the Doctor was letting on.
The Doctor pulled herself up by the edge of the console. "I'm going down to the engine room. Wait here," she announced, trying to keep her voice steady. The telepathic link of the TARDIS, normally a comforting presence in the back of her mind, had been reduced to was a faint pulse. She had no idea what could have caused this to happen. There'd been no obstacles in her way, no weapons. Very few things could damage a TARDIS like this. She wasn't even certain it could be fixed. But before she could do anything, she needed to assess the damage. She walked out of the console room, arms in front of her to keep from bumping into anything.
Ryan scooted over until his hands came up against one of the crystal pillars, and pulled himself up. Nothing was broken, though his arm was sore. Now if only he could see. Then it occurred to him: he could use his phone. He must have hit his head, if he'd forgotten that. Scanning the console room using flashlight mode, he found Yaz a few feet away, sprawled on the floor. "Yaz, can you get up?"
She winced slightly as she stood. "I should be fine. Been through worse in PE." The only thing she'd been popular for in secondary was as a target in dodgeball, and the teachers had done nothing to stop her tormentors.
"Let's check on Graham." Holding the edge of the console, he walked around until the flashlight showed his grandfather's form.
"I'm fine. Takes a little more than being banged around the TARDIS to stop me." He tried to smile, but even in the darkness, Ryan could sense the concern.
They chatted a little as they waited for the Doctor to return. "Surprised this hasn't happened to us before. The Doc said it was an old ship, and she's always doing repairs of some sort," Graham said.
"It's never been this bad though. What if she can't fix it?" Yaz rubbed the back of her head. "We could be stuck here."
"We don't even know where here is," Ryan said. "I'm gonna check." Maybe they were on Earth and could go home while the Doctor made repairs. Something told him that was unlikely to be the case.
"She said to wait here." Yaz reminded him.
"I'm just going to look out the doors." Carefully stepping over a bundle of wires, he made his way to the front doors. Outside was completely black. "Can't see a thing." Returning to his friends, he squatted on the ground, careful to avoid touching anything.
"The Doc will sort all this out, don't worry," Graham said. "She's never let us down before."
"Yeah, I know," he replied, not entirely convinced. What happened when the Doctor met a problem even she couldn't solve?
—
An hour later, there was a soft whir, and lights spread through the console. The central pillar lit, though dimly. Ryan felt a flicker of hope. If the TARDIS was lit, they weren't stranded.
"Good! It worked!" The Doctor appeared in the doorway. The faint glow from the central pillar reflected on her face. "Had to haul the backup generator out of storage, make a few adjustments-Ryan, I had to take apart your PlayStation."
He groaned despite the severity. It was his personal video game system, and he'd saved up to buy it. He reminded himself there were more pressing matters at hand.
The Doctor continued, "I was able to route all auxiliary power to the console, and at least see where we are." She rushed over to the console, bending over. Beads of sweat collected on her forehead as her brows furrowed. Ryan wasn't sure what she was seeing, but he'd been traveling with her long enough to know he didn't like the look of it. She staring in silence for a few moments, unmoving.
"What is it, Doc?" Graham broke the tense silence.
"These readings. They're all nonsense. Never seen anything like it." She pointed to the screen as if he could decipher Gallifreyan text. She had no idea what was wrong with the TARDIS, and that was unusual. Over thousands of years, she'd encountered every problem known to the Type 40, and a few that weren't. What was happening now absolutely mystified her.
"Did the console break in the crash?" Yaz ventured.
"Possible. But either way, I don't know where we are or what's happened. The backup generator will run the console, but it's not enough power for her to take off."
The humans exchanged glances. "There must be something we can do, right? We can't just be stranded here," Yaz said.
"I'll get us out of here." Probably, the Doctor added to herself. She didn't want to worry the fam any more than they already were. "Let's see where we are the old fashioned way. I'll take a nip out and check." She strode out the door, coat swishing behind her.
The moment the Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS, she felt wrong.
A buzzing filled her head, making it hard to think. Her skin felt like it was crawling with millions of tiny insects. Out of instinct, she batted away at her arms before realizing nothing was there. Very strange. Something in the air, a poison perhaps? She stood, eyes scrunched shut in concentration. Was something trying to communicate with her? The buzzing continued but decreased to a low hum at the base of her skull.
The air was cold, and she hugged herself as she took a few steps around the TARDIS. She probably shouldn't have simply walked out of her ship without protective shielding, or at least an umbrella. She was getting careless in her old age. Above her, the sky was dark, with only a few distant points of light appearing. She couldn't recognize any of the constellations. She didn't recognize the planet they were on either. Squatting down, she traced her finger along the ground. Perhaps a taste of dirt would tell her where she was. However, the ground was frozen solid. The only feature of the otherwise empty landscape was the silhouette of a massive, squat building, half a click ahead. Not too promising, but the only option she could see.
Her fingers were beginning to stiffen, and she realized she was getting cold. It happened so infrequently, she'd forgotten the sensation. If she stayed out here much longer, she'd freeze like a popsicle.
She went back inside to her friends. The buzzing and crawling she'd felt earlier had stopped once the making it easier to think. "Saw a big grey building before us. Love a big grey building. Actually, I don't, but we can go inside and maybe get some answers as to where we are. One thing though, it's a bit cold out there. Maybe 100 Kelvin? Best to put on some environmental suits. They're downstairs in the wardrobe."
The fam nodded in agreement as they followed her out of the console room. She'd need an environmental suit for herself, too. Although the Doctor could withstand the temperature for a few minutes, she'd never survive the walk to the building. A part of her hated to leave the wounded ship alone, but they had no chance to survive if they didn't go out looking for solutions.
In the wardrobe, the Doctor pulled out four bright orange suits. Graham held one up to himself. The fabric was thin, almost flimsy. Black gloves, with short thin fingers, were attached at the end of each arm. "Are these like, astronaut suits?" He tried not to feel apprehensive. Despite the regular dangers they faced, the thought of wearing something that felt like a Halloween costume was more than a bit unnerving.
"Yes, but much more advanced." Her coat bunched around her waist as she stepped into it. "Flexible, lightweight material, but incredibly strong. We'll need helmets and oxygen tanks too. There's oxygen in the atmosphere, but at these temperatures, breathing it would damage your lungs." Zipping up her suit, she rooted around in a box that was about half as high as she was. "They're around here somewhere."
The addition of an oxygen tank only furthered Graham's apprehension. For a moment, he considered asking to stay with the TARDIS. Maybe someone would come along and offer to help. But he saw Ryan suiting up and eagerly asking Yaz if he made a good astronaut. He sighed. If Ryan wasn't afraid, he wouldn't be either, and someone had to be there to keep the lad out of trouble. Putting on the suit, he found it was at least comfortable, and the gloves stretched to perfectly fit his hands. He noticed tiny metal clips at the wrists. The gloves were removable, he noted. He just hoped the clips stayed in place while they were outside.
"Found everything! I'll give you each a hand! The oxygen tanks can be a little difficult to get used to." The Doctor sprung up with a handful of clear plastic helmets and other gadgets. It had taken her a while to find them. Graham wondered idly if the boxes in the wardrobe were also bigger on the inside. Every day with the Doctor, something surprised him. She helped him put on the oxygen tank and secure it to the suit attachment. At least th tanks were smaller and lighter than he expected. Wearing one felt no heavier than a backpack.
Yaz gave them a quizzical look. "Doctor, will this be enough air?"
"We should be fine for at least six hours," she said. "Let's go."
—
As the Doctor set off from the TARDIS with her friends, things were happening near her ship.
The TARDIS was cleverly disguised as an Earth police box, but that was all it was; a disguise. Beneath the illusion lay a complex network of the fuselage, circuitry, shielding, and other parts of a space and time ship. Most of these are not important to our tale, except for one: exhaust.
The TARDIS, like any other mode of transportation, requires a source of power. At the heart of the TARDIS lies the Eye of Harmony. The Eye of Harmony is responsible for creating artron energy, which is dispelled into the Time Vortex. But that was hardly the only thing dispelled. Notably, Hawking radiation from the Eye of Harmony's event horizon was collected by the Eye and vented through the exhaust ports.
To most living creatures, this was harmless. For a select few, it was a boon.
Black bugs, no larger than a thumbnail, crawled mindlessly around the frozen ground, in search of a few scraps of ever-dwindling food. What they found was so much greater. The insects had survived the cold and near starvation, leaving them one of the few remaining life forms on this planet. They spent most of their time buried under the ground in search of warmth, chewing dirt in a near futile attempt to gather nutrients.
Bathed by Hawking radiation, the bugs began to grow, doubling, tripling, then larger by orders of magnitude. They were strong and relentless. And they were so very, very hungry.
—
Despite the heavily locked entrance to the building, the Doctor was easily able to sonic it open. Inside was a vacant guard station, lined with thick glass and thicker stone.
The Doctor pulled off her helmet first. "Temperature about 18 degrees. Should be fine." She motioned for the others to do the same, setting the helmets gently on the ground. She tried to avoid the slight tremor in her hands. The crawling and buzzing had returned as she stepped out of the TARDIS again. That ruled out something in the air, at least. Perhaps she was allergic to something on this planet. She wondered if she still had any celery back in the kitchen; it might come in handy.
"Janus Point Base." Ryan read the inscription above the guard station. The place was eerily quiet, and it made him uneasy. "Seems like a military base of some sort, but there's no one here. Ever hear of it?"
"Never heard of it," The Doctor said. She ran her fingers along the walls, sonicing in a few places. "The walls are made of structural steel. It's practically brand new. No pitting, no corrosion, no crazing."
"Who'd build a brand new base and just abandon it?" asked Graham.
"Is an excellent question! Five points to Graham!" the Doctor pointed at him with glee. Graham gave her a smug smile. He didn't know what the current point totals were, and he expected the Doctor didn't know either, but he was happy to get some recognition.
"What if it's not abandoned? What if the troops are comin'?" Ryan said.
"Certainly possible. But in the meantime, let's have a look around." On either side of the guard station, there was a lengthy corridor, punctuated by evenly spaced overhead lights. "Graham and Yaz, go that way. Ryan, you're with me."
The corridor was lined with the same brushed steel as the entrance. They stopped in a few rooms; a mess area, a set of bunks, a shower. Nothing out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, the buzzing in her head was getting worse with every step. "Ryan, how are you feeling? We had a rough landing." She tried to sound casual, not wanting him to know what was happening to her, but if the fam was affected, she needed to know.
"Feeling all right. A little achy." He rubbed his elbow through the environmental suit. Most of the other aches had subsided on the walk to the base."You?"
"Peachy keen. No worries." She gave him a small, tight smile, that suggested otherwise. As if she was eager for a quick subject change, she pulled him towards a door marked Laboratory. "Let's check out this room. Looks promising."
Inside was a mess, with glassware and small tubes covering every surface. "Someone's been here after all," Ryan said. He peered into an empty glass box, studying the readings below. He couldn't make out any of the symbols. "What's this?"
The Doctor leaned over. "Radioactive oxygen." At his startled look, she added, "It's shielded, you're fine as long as you…"
"Don't touch anything, I know." He held up his hands.
She squinted. "Doesn't look like there's much left, anyway. It's not a very stable isotope." She walked around the lab, tracing her black-gloved fingers over the abandoned experiments. She leaned against the counter, touching her forehead. The crawling feeling was getting worse, and she wanted to jump out of her skin.
Ryan felt a buzz in his jeans pocket. "Hold on." He unzipped his environmental suit to grab his phone-Yaz. He put it on speaker so they could both hear.
"You need to come quick." Yaz was panicked on the other end of the line. "Graham and I found a body."
"What kind of body?" The Doctor sprung to attention, forgetting her unease.
"Human, I guess? I can't tell what killed them." She sounded on the verge of tears.
"Stay put. I'll be right there." The Doctor ordered. She hoped whatever was giving her the crawlies wasn't lethal. To Ryan, she said, "Keep looking around, see if you can find out what experiments they were doing. I'll be back as soon as I can."
As she ran down the corridor, the crawling feeling grew to a crescendo. She found herself stopping, leaning against the wall. I can't stop now, I need to check on Yaz and Graham. Keep them out of danger. She willed herself to move, but her legs would not obey. Her stomach filled with nausea.
Tiny sharp bursts of pain filled her fingertips. Gingerly, she pulled off the gloves of her environmental suit, to find a purple light emitting from them. She was dying. She must be. Something in this place must be killing her. She sank to the ground on hands and knees, wracked with pain. Breath came out in choked gasps. She needed to keep going. She had to rescue her friends. Get them home in one piece. She crawled along the ground, only making it a few meters before collapsing.
The purple spread from her fingers, down her arms, covering her whole body. She only barely managed not to scream as white-hot pain shot through her entire pain.
Then a moment later, everything stopped. The crawling feeling dialed down to nearly zero, stuck in the background like supermarket music. The Doctor slowly got up. Taller, now. She must have regenerated, although it felt different this time. Was she a man again? Didn't matter; that could be sorted out later. What was important was saving the fam. The Doctor started running down the corridor again, only to run smack into the wall. Right, new body, not very good at going straight ahead yet. After a moment, the Doctor recovered and ran towards her friends.
—
Captain Trawker watched the strangers on the screens that lined the command center. These four didn't look like the typical intruders. He could sense a bit of desperation, but they were well equipped, and not even a hint of hunger among them. Not that they would like what they'd found. He paid particular attention to the one they called the Doctor; she seemed to be the leader among them.
The command center was designed for at least ten people, but he'd longed designated it as his private sanctuary. He could see and hear everything that happened at the base. He didn't know what kind of weapons this group was carrying, and it was best not to find out personally. Trawker was a slight man, a mop of golden brown curls giving him a boyish appearance. In his own mind, he made up for it by being clever, much more clever than the half-wit brutes that made up his remaining squadron. It surprised nobody but him he'd been named base captain, back when such things still mattered.
He tapped his comm. "Zone B. Intruders." He'd never been a man of many words. He sat back and waited to see what the intruders would do next.
—
Graham avoided looking at the corpse in the center of the room. No matter how many dead bodies they saw, he could never get used to looking at them. The image of the man's face, his mouth in an O of shock, was burned into his mind. He shifted his weight. "Doc should have been here by now. What's keeping her?"
"Hope whatever got him didn't get her," Yaz said. She paced the length of the room where they'd found the body; it appeared to be a storage area of some sort. She tried to focus on the boxes, looking at the writing-the Doctor was always telling them to keep their eyes open and look for clues-but none of it registered. "But she's good at defending herself."
Graham nodded, not assured by this. "Maybe I should go look for her."
"She said to stay put."
"She says a lot of things. Don't properly look out for herself." He leaned against the wall. Every minute that passed made him more apprehensive. At the sound of footsteps, he felt a moment of relief, until he realized the footsteps sounded wrong. Heavier. Longer. He tensed his muscles, ready for a fight.
"Here I am! Oooh, I'm Scottish again! Something sort of familiar about it though. Can't quite place it." A tall figure burst into the room, and Graham's mouth dropped.
The strange man before them was wearing the Doctor's orange environmental suit. He was an older man with rugged features, the most prominent of which was his incredibly large eyebrows. He looked at them with a wild-eyed grin, as if he expected they'd be glad to see him. His surprise turned into outrage. How dare he come in here like that! What had happened to her? Why was he wearing her suit? He and Yaz needed to find out what happened to the Doctor, fast.
"Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions…" the strange man began.
"Just one." Graham's eyes narrowed, his hands curled into fists. "What have you done to the Doctor?"